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The exterior of the Tick Tock Tavern at 3459 Magnolia in Tower Grove East.
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The Tick Tock, mid-construction.
At some point in any project, there’s an “aha moment,” a singular slice-of-time in which you see plans falling into place and dollars flying off of accounting sheets. They’re linked, these images. And they’re weirdly freeing.
On January 2 of this year, a note went out amongst friends. A bar in the Tower Grove East neighborhood was quietly for-sale, not yet placed on the market. The Tick Tock Tavern, found in the long-shadows of the old KDHX studios, was being offered by family members of the late proprietor, Charlotte Horvath. She’d shuttered the place in 1994 and there was a very real, time-capsule vibe remaining at the corner of Magnolia and Arkansas. Left for purchase was the bar, a vast apartment upstairs and a neighboring building that shifted lives, transitioning from bar-friendly diner, to a resale shop, to a storage room for stuff you’d find at a resale shop. So much stuff!
Conversations were quickly had and a bar - plus an apartment and, gulp, the neighboring restaurant space - were bought, partner Fred Hessel shouldering that load. Contractors were secured, demolition began. Perhaps most-importantly, an affiliated-yet-separate business, Steve Ewing’s namesake Steve’s Hot Dog’s on the Hill, signed on a direct neighbor and partner. Work was undertaken, but mostly only undertaken after a hearing was successfully held with the St. Louis City Excise Commission. When a blessing was given by that office,it was time to really, truly get to work.
Fast forward to July 7 of this year, when that “aha moment” occurred. In front of the bar, two neighborhood kids were pulling off a decades-old naugahyde sheath. A plumber was cutting pipe; that’s a not a quiet process, in case you were wondering. Our carpenter was working around both our plumber and the electrician; the latter was working in-and-above our ceiling tile grid. The iPod booster, loud earlier in the day, was obscured by the blur of construction sounds and voices. And in that group of voices were some folks who represent an interesting blend of interests: vendors, salespeople, liquor-and-sundries reps. Some were called in, specifically; others have simply been prospecting. (These folks tend to be a little more, er, direct.)
July 7’s group got especially interesting, in that reps from one, local, self-distributing craft brewery were on-hand, also standing next to another rep, from one of our town’s biggest distributors. These folks had very different catalogs to work with, but one, end message was exactly the same.
A bit of backstory, first: when the Tick Tock Tavern operated (we’ve pegged it as 1975-94; if you know differently, tell us), the Tick Tock’s two tap handles offered exactly one brand: Busch Bavarian Beer. In fact, the two half-barrels from the closing night of May 21, ‘94 are still in the box; for whatever reason, we’ve left them in there, as gags and talismans. To bring a larger selection of draft beers into our world, we’re going to use “sixths,” smaller, thinner kegs that can boost the double tap tower into a six-draft system. One of the most-interesting conversations to follow is in deciding what beers will flow.
Distributors are helpful here, very much so. This is work their highly-specialized/skilled techs can undertake. And for a moment, there were two camps in one, six-foot-square space, offering the same service. One with a highly-local, popular series of offerings; the other able to offer, literally, a world’s-worth of titles. And other distributors have talked to us, too, on different workdays. It’s an interesting moment, right now, lots of flirting, but we’ll soon pick a dance partner (or two) and we’ll be locked-in-step with them for a while.
Decisions! Oh, we have to make few. “Do you want a jukebox?” No. “Really?” That’s right. “How about an ATM?” Yes, please. “Linens?” We might be able to get by with our own washer/dryer. “Surround-sound, hi-definition teevee sets?” Well, that sure does sound nice. “How about a credit card server?” We’re going to just go the cash route. “Cash?” Yes, cash. “CASH?” YUP, CASH. “But what about linens?” Hmm, we’ll call you.
The ordered glasswasher is going to make life much more bearable for the bar staff. The new ceiling tiles won’t satisfy the “open it up” crowd, but they’ll help lose the smoke-soaked ambiance of the old ones. The new floors will look a whole lot better than current, worn, tile floors; even when going old-school, you gotta make some upgrades and give a nod to the modern eye.
And we’ll decorate with owls. “Owls?” Yes, owls. “OWLS?” Ugh, yes, owls. Maybe we’ll save that one for the next time.
Thomas Crone, along with Fred Hessel and Steven Fitzpatrick Smith, are taking over the old Tick Tock Tavern, 3459 Magnolia, slated to open in August 2014. Monitor the progress on Facebook, here.
